HF-switches of the concerned type include a bifurcated contact piece having a pair of contact springs fixed at one end and supporting at the other end respective contact rivets which face each other and between which a contact blade is movable.
In such HF-switches, the contact rivets are usually of cylindrical shape with rounded cap which defines the contacting area. In addition, contact rivets of semicircular (semispherical) shape are known. The contact blade is inserted between the contact rivets of the bifurcated contact piece by respectively moving or twisting the blade. Depending on the thickness of the contact blade, the contact springs are prestressed in opposite direction in order to exert the required contact force for providing the desired contact with the contact blade.
These HF-switches have drawbacks, especially when the contact blade is not exactly positioned in the central plane of the bifurcated contact piece. In case of cylindrical contact rivets but also in case of semispherical contact rivets especially when larger positional deviations of the control blade are concerned, the control blade runs on one of the rivets thereby deforming the contact spring or damaging the contact rivet. This in turn leads to a poor contact and increased contact resistance which may result in a fusing of the contacts especially when considerable power is transmitted and may even lead to a destruction of the entire switch because of overheating.
Although in a HF-switch with one contact set consisting of bifurcated contact piece and contact blade, this problem may be overcome by narrow tolerances of the contact set and by wear resisting support of the contact blade, difficulties are still encountered when electrically connecting a number of such contact sets in parallel arrangement and in the event the pertaining bifurcated contact pieces, on the one hand, and the contact blade, on the other hand, are combined to one integral unit as is usually the case e.g. in the coaxial switches for high HF-powers.